Date Available

12-14-2024

Year of Publication

2024

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College

Arts and Sciences

Department/School/Program

Sociology

Advisor

Dr. Keiko Tanaka

Abstract

The question of sustainability has many different facets, but one of the most urgent issues is that of sustainable agriculture. Decades of agricultural policy demanded farmers go big or get out, more colloquially known as the government directive of the 20th century to farm “fencerow to fencerow”. In the 21st century, we now face a near-critical consolidation of farmland and decline in the overall number of farmers. If sustainability calls for a resilient, diversified agrisystem, how can we change direction at this point in the trajectory?

In this study, I demonstrate how queer farmers make valuable contributions to their communities- both virtual and in person- in terms of building diverse coalitions to support sustainable agriculture efforts. I ask the following research questions: 1) what, if anything, makes queer farmers unique from heterosexual beginning and sustainably minded farmers? 2) How can sustainable agriculture support organizations enhance their capacity for supporting social diversity, especially LGBTQ+ farmers, as part of their long-term diversity and equity initiatives? And finally, 3) what might it mean to “queer” agriculture?

Results indicate that queer farmers and farm workers are taking steps to create online network to mitigate the potential isolation of being LGBTQ+ in a rural agricultural settings- and to share resources and learn from one another, even if they cannot connect in person. They are doing this in lieu of more traditional professional conferences or meet-ups. Queer farmers are using organizations, such as non-profit structures, to gain access to land to farm on. This often places them in close proximity to other justice movements, whether that’s local food access, vegan animal sanctuaries, or attempts to make intersectional inequality clear to other community members. Their queerness, however, often takes a backseat to identity formation in these organizations. By collecting three primary data sets, interviewing 17 LGBTQ+ farmers, surveying 26 sustainable agriculture organizations, and conducting participant observation at three queer-operated farms, this dissertation makes meaningful contributions to the sociological literature about sustainable agriculture, diversity, sexuality, and methods of community-building across time and space. The findings indicate that LGBTQ+ are network-building and taking mutual aid-inspired approaches in their connections not only to each other, but to the communities they live and work in.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2024.493

Funding Information

Howard Beers Grant, 2021

University of Kentucky Food Connection Grant, 2023

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